Norwood claims 10th successive win with victory over West Adelaide at The Parade
NORWOOD continues to make statements on the SANFL competition, claiming a 10th successive win with a comfortable victory over West Adelaide at The Parade.
NORWOOD’S stunning form shows no signs of being subdued after crushing West Adelaide by 78 points at The Parade on Friday night.
It was the Redlegs’ 10th successive victory and they have climbed to top spot on the ladder. Woodville-West Torrens can regain that position with a win over Sturt at Woodville Oval on Saturday.
While there was no lack of fight and spirit from the Bloods, they had no answer to the superior class of the premiership favourites.
The slippery conditions tested the players from the outset after rain pelted down at the opening bounce and it was the home side which adapted quickest to build an 18-point lead midway through the first quarter.
There was little science behind the mindset of the teams in the first quarter, just push the ball forward at any cost.
Lewis Johnston again picked up plenty of possessions as the link man for the Redlegs, feeding off the work of the inside midfielders such as William Abbott, Matthew Panos and Mitch Grigg.
While the Redlegs dominated possession and the inside 50 count, the Bloods refused to buckle and a Tom Keough goal cut the margin to just seven points at the first change.
Despite the challenging conditions, there was some moments of brilliance. Zac Bates kicked a clever goal for the Bloods early in the second term to reward teammates for terrific lead-up work with a string of handballs.
The deficit for the Bloods was only eight points, but this talent-laden Redlegs outfit has a passion for rapid scoring and that was again evident as they blew the lead out to a commanding 26 in just a couple of minutes.
Veteran Simon Phillips set speedster Anthony Wilson up for a goal before he nailed two goals in a minute to have the Bloods on the back foot.
And at times the skills and decision making of the Bloods was a struggle.
When Izak Rankine nailed a superb goal two minutes into the third quarter the Bloods trailed by 20 points and there was hope.
Thirteen minutes later the gap had ballooned to 52 and the Bloods were no hope. Again, the Redlegs showcased their potential to keep the scoreboard attendant busy as they took complete control of the contest.
The Redlegs’ ability to secure clean ball from the stoppages and move it into attack with authority had the visitors under enormous pressure to stem the flow.
NORWOOD 3.4 7.9 16.12 18.17 (125)
WEST ADELAIDE 2.3 3.7 5.10 6.11 (47)
BEST - Norwood: Panos, Abbott, Grigg, Phillips, Hamilton, Wilkins, Johnston. West: Keough, Stevens, Karpany, Bates.
GOALS - Norwood: Phillips 4, Dawe 3, Wilson, Grigg, Panos 2, Bampton, Shenton, Johnston, Nunn, Richards. West: Schiller, Keough, Rankine, Green, Bates, Middleton.
UMPIRES - Broadbent, Harris, Philp.
CROWD - at Coopers Stadium, Norwood.